Page 102 of Unseen Eye
As he pulls away just enough for our foreheads to rest together, I can feel his breath mingling with mine. His eyes are searching mine, full of something raw and uncertain.
“So, are we good?” he whispers, his voice barely audible, like he’s afraid of the answer.
I don’t need to think twice. “No more secrets, no more lies,” I reply, the weight that’s been crushing my chest lifting.
He gives a soft exhale, his relief evident.
“By the way,” I add, trying to bring some normalcy back to the moment, “you forgot to lock your door.”
Cal looks at me, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “No, Ididn’t. I just forgot to tell you—I changed the locks. Now we both can unlock it.”
I blink, caught off guard. “Wait... you what?”
He shrugs casually, as if it’s no big deal. “I wanted you to have access. It’s your home too. No point in locking you out when you practically live here now.”
The simplicity of the gesture hits me in a way I wasn’t expecting. It’s just a lock. Just a small thing. But it’s more than that. It’s trust. It’s security. It’s belonging—something I didn’t even realize I was aching for until now.
Suddenly, I remember my dream from last night. “Oh, I was going to tell Theo earlier, but I was a little distracted.”
“So, he was with you…” Cal mutters under his breath, his hand still resting on my cheek, not quite ready to let go.
“I had a weird dream last night, different from the others.”
“How so?” His hand slips down to mine and entwines our fingers, a gesture that feels as natural as breathing.
“There was this lady, and I know this sounds stupid, but she kind of looked like a tree.” I glance at him, gauging his reaction. “I was in this blue crystal cave, surrounded by water, and the tree lady. It was like she could actually see me. She told me to find her where the water begins and that I was running out of time. Strange, right?”
Cal blinks, and then a look of realization crosses his face. “Fuck, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner.”
“Think of what?” I ask, a small knot of anticipation forming in my stomach.
“The Waters of Truth,” he replies, his tone serious, as if this revelation changes everything.
“Uh, excuse me?” I say, raising an eyebrow, trying to keep up with the sudden shift in mood.
Cal chuckles, but it’s a distracted sound, his mind clearly elsewhere. “In the seas of Elrynd, north of Catalpa, there’s asingle mountain. At the top is the blue cave you described, inhabited by a tree nymph named Eldra. If you jump from the waterfalls into the water below, you will see a truth.”
Cal explains, “What the Waters of Truth show is unpredictable, but it’s all truth. It’s an ancient magic from the time before the gods. The waters are incredible—they reflect the deepest truths of your heart and mind, revealing things you might not even realize about yourself.”
“How do you know so much about this?” I ask, my mind still reeling at the magic of it all.
“I was there once.” His voice softens, a hint of something darker lurking beneath his words.
“With Theo and Izzy?” I ask, puzzled, trying to piece together this new information.
“No, just myself.”
“Why?” I press, a nervous edge to my voice.
Cal turns his head back to the city below us, his expression thoughtful, shadows dancing across his features. “A long time ago, I was in a bad place. My mother had just died. I realized that killing Eamon didn’t help with any of the guilt. So, I took a gamble and went searching for something I thought was just a myth—and actually found it.” He chuckles, but there’s sadness in his tone, a deep well of pain that tugs at my heart. “When I first saw the, as you called her, tree lady, I was scared shitless. But she instantly knew who I was and told me to jump.”
My heart aches at the thought of Cal in such a low place. The strongest man I know, brought to his knees by grief and anger. “What did you see?” I ask.
He steps off the ledge with ease, offering me his hand. “I’ll tell you later, I promise,” he says softly. “If you want to go, I can blink us there, but first, I need to shower.”
***
Not long after, Cal and I find ourselves back on the rooftop. “In lands of icy chill,” I recite a line from the prophecy that has haunted more of my nights than I’d care to admit. “Do you think it’s talking about this?”
